Innovation:

Journalism took a beating in 2016. Donald Trump was elected president, thwarting pollsters and shaking off seemingly endless fact-checking. News organizations continue to lay off journalists … Read More

"All of California's neighbors -- Arizona, Nevada and Oregon -- and fellow Sun Belt state Florida were severely hit by the bursting housing bubble, landing them on Pew's list of states facing fiscal difficulties similar to California's. A Midwestern cluster of states comprising Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin emerged, too, as did the Northeastern states of New Jersey and Rhode Island."

"Close behind the 10 states on our list were states such as Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, NewYork and Hawaii. . . . New York's revenue decline, for example, was steeper in the first quarter of 2009 than in all but four states, and its fiscal year 2010 budget gap was sixth-worst in the nation. In fact, all but two states, Montana and North Dakota, confronted budget shortfalls for fiscal year 2010, with some facing their largest deficits in modern history."

The study looked at six factors:

High foreclosure rates

Increasing joblessness

Loss of state revenues

The relative size of budget gaps

Legal obstacles to balanced budgets -- "specifically, a supermajority requirement for some or all tax increases or budget bills."

Poor money-management practices

What to read next

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Al Tompkins is one of America's most requested broadcast journalism and multimedia teachers and coaches. After nearly 30 years working as a reporter, photojournalist, producer, investigative reporter, head of special investigations and News Director, Tompkins joined the Poynter Institute where he is Senior Faculty for Broadcast and Online. He is the author of "Aim for the Heart" a textbook about multimedia storytelling that has been adopted by more than 100 universities worldwide. He has taught in 49 states, Canada, Egypt, Denmark, South Africa, Iceland and the Caymans.
Tompkins is the recipient of some of journalism's highest awards including The National Emmy, the Japan Prize, The American Bar Association's Silver Gavel, The Peabody (group award), 7 National Headliner Awards, The Robert F. Kennedy Award and The Iris Award. He was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame and honored with The Governor's Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Tompkins helped to author the national codes of ethics for both the National Press Photographers Association and the Radio and Television Digital News Association.